Yuendumu violence overshadows AFL pride

Despite producing AFL star Liam Jurrah, the remote Aboriginal community of Yuendumu is struggling with violence and the role of traditional law and culture in resolving it.

Transcript

CHRIS UHLMANN, PRESENTER: The remote community of Yuendumu in central Australia is a long way from the hallowed turf of the MCG, and it's been an extraordinary journey for former barefoot footballer Liam Jurrah - from his outback home to star recruit at the Melbourne Demons football club. But the dreams of Liam Jurrah and his community came crashing down when the champion was arrested in his home town last month, and charged over a brutal attack which may see him face up to 14 years in jail. The backdrop to this story is a long-running clan feud that's paralysed Yuendumu, and prompted Indigenous elders to call for a return to traditional "payback" to solve their disputes. Reporter Michael Coggan spent five days in Yuendumu to file this report.

MICHAEL COGGAN, REPORTER: 300 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs, bordering on traditional Warlpiri country, the Yuendumu Bombers are holding an evening training session. There are no flood lights, no grass and some of the players don't have any boots. But there's plenty of enthusiasm.

ANTHONY HARGRAVES, YUENDEMU BOMBERS: Football is about family, you know. Come one together.

MICHAEL COGGAN: This ground is usually home to the Yuendumu Magpies, the team that produced Melbourne Demons AFL star Liam Jurrah, but the Magpies haven't played a game for 18 months because a long-running violent clan dispute is paralysing sections of the community. It's a sensitive topic. because discussing it publicly could lead to more conflict.

ANTHONY HARGRAVES: We got a little problem with family. But we don't want to talk about that, but want to talk about that.

MICHAEL COGGAN: Warlpiri elder Harry Nelson and his nephew Otto Sims are among seven families involved. They've travelled to traditional country just south of Yuendumu to talk about their side of the clan dispute. There are differing views about how long ago it started, but it's agreed the past 18 months have been particularly violent.

JIMMY WATSON, WARLPIRI ELDER: Could have been sorted a long time ago. We could have been families again now, but now we hate each other now.

MICHAEL COGGAN: The latest chapter in the clan dispute began with the death of a talented footballer, 21-year-old Kwementyaye Watson. He was buried in the community of Nyirripi, south of Yuendumu, two months after a fatal stabbing attack in a Alice Springs town camp in September 2010.

Three Warlpiri men were charged over the death. Early this year murder charges were dropped, but one of them was sentenced to six years in jail for manslaughter.

Kwementyaye Watson's family see the sentence as too lenient, and want to use the traditional Aboriginal law of "payback", known here as mala mala, to resolve the differences.

JIMMY WATSON: There may be more killing. But we don't want that. We want to stop all that by mala mala.

MICHAEL COGGAN: In the past traditional punishment, or mala mala ceremonies, have been carried out here at the Yuendumu football ground. Hundreds of people would gather to meet the victim's family mete out punishment against the perpetrator, often in the form of a spear through the leg. Police were told to stay away from these ceremonies, but that no longer happens.

Ted Eagan was the Government Superintendent of Yuendumu back in the late 1950s. He often witnessed traditional resolution of disputes, including spearings.

TED EAGEN, FORMER YUENDUMU SUPT: If there were blues or, you know, indiscretions it was very easy, you just asked the old people to come and sit down and, "How do we fix this?" And they'd say, "Leave it with us, we know the rules, this is our country."

MICHAEL COGGAN: In 2006 the Federal Government amended the Commonwealth Crimes Act to stop courts considering customary law penalties as a mitigating circumstance in criminal cases. That stance was further entrenched in the new laws the Federal Government used to take control of Territory Aboriginal communities in 2007. Police have responded by taking a harder line on the ground.

MICHAEL POTTS, SUPT, NT POLICE: We can't condone payback because the potential is always there for another death to happen, and it's going to go all around a big circle again, where we have to go through another murder trial, families are going to get further upset, and it will be a never-ending cycle.

MICHAEL COGGAN: For many of the families not involved in the current dispute life goes on as usual, but for those caught up, in it's so debilitating they're considering leaving Yuendumu.

ALMA GRANITES, ARTIST: At the moment our kids are in fear, they're not going to school, and at home we have sleepless nights.

MICHAEL COGGAN: Policeman Paul Jones is part of a trial program employing community engagement officers. It's his job to connect with community leaders to avoid violence.

PAUL JONES, POLICE OFFICER: They see a lot of people that aren't from the community come in here for a very small period of time and then take off, and until they work out they will find it very hard to open up to you.

MICHAEL COGGAN: Yuendumu usually has a population around 800, but the clan dispute and related court proceedings have taken people out of the community into Alice Springs and sometimes into jail. In late 2010, dozens of people travelled to Adelaide to escape the violence.

HARRY NELSON: When we come back we just got back and the next day we got attacked. Every one of us got hurt.

MICHAEL COGGAN: In early March, Yuendumu football star Liam Jurrah returned to central Australia after being given leave by the Melbourne Football Club to travel home to attend to family business. But there was a violent confrontation in a Alice Springs town camp on the 7th of March, and police arrested Liam Jurrah.

NEWS REPORTER (March 2012): The 23-year-old faced court in Alice Springs this morning after spending the night in the police watch house.

MICHAEL COGGAN: A man was allegedly attacked with a machete and hospitalised with injuries. Jurrah is facing up to 14 years in jail. Since then, the violence has continued.

During the five days that I've spent in Yuendumu, there was one serious violent incident. People from South Camp over the other side of town walked slowly towards West Camp, here on this side of Yuendumu, to the houses just behind me. There was a confrontation outside one of the houses, there were some rocks thrown, and two women were left with head injuries. One of them had to be taken to the local clinic for treatment, and police responded quickly.

The next day, the specialist police tactical response group were sent in to help local police arrest four people involved in the confrontation. Within hours, those arrested appeared before the bush circuit Magistrates Court sitting in Yuendumu.

MICHAEL POTTS: It's quite a complex issue to deal with, but we've got steps in place at the moment to try to nip a lot of this activity in the bud very, very quickly.

MICHAEL COGGAN: Walpiri elders say governments have left Aboriginal people powerless, and without access to traditional remedies the conflict will never be resolved.

Harry Nelson says the only way he can see a solution being found is through a meeting of all Walpiri leaders.

HARRY NELSON: Leave the police out, leave the mediation mob, leave the Northern Territory Government out, even Federal Government out. Give us the responsibility back, the rights to make our decisions without someone making decisions for us.